La Paz to the Straits of Tiquina

Puerto Pérez

Puerto Pérez is the closest point to La Paz on Lake Titicaca, only 72 km. The views of the lake and mountains are superb and the sunsets here are spectacular. Massive Mount Illampu provides an impressive backdrop, seeming closer than it is in the thin Altiplano air. Because of the winds off the lake, the town enjoys almost permanently clear skies. As a result it is very hot during the day, but bitterly cold at night.

The port was the original harbour for La Paz, founded in the 19th century by British navigators for the first steam boat on the lake. The vessel was assembled in Puno, Peru.

The town has appeared to benefit from the influx of tourists who come to the Hotel Las Balsas. The large plaza is fronted by brightly painted houses and the local people work on well-building projects, to irrigate what was once dry, ungiving soil.

The road to Puerto Pérez turns off the main La Paz-Copacabana road at Batallas (population 19,900), a typical Altiplano market town so named because of the battles between the Spanish commanders Almagro and Pizarro. It provides an insight into life on the Altiplano and makes a pleasant walk (two to three hours). Tiny adobe houses, some with tin roofs, dot the parched brown plain. Women and children tend cattle, sheep and pigs, and the banks of streams are a blaze of colour from clothes spread out to dry.

Huatajata 

Huatajata is home to the Yacht Club Boliviano. Its restaurant is open to non-members Saturday and Sunday for lunch only, sailing is just for members. Many restaurants serve trout, the local specialty, popular with paceñoson weekends.

Of greater interest are homespun exhibits of the reed boats that were once such a common site on the lake but are now reserved for tourist displays. Featured are the stories of several long-distance expeditions, on the lake, the Amazon River and even the world's oceans, all in great reed vessels built by local craftsmen. The exhibits of Máximo Catari (at Hostal Inti Karka) and Paulino Estéban (along the highway at the east end of town) are both recommended. They both also offer lake trips cruising near the shore or to visit the islands of Huiñamarca. On the island of Suriqui, one hour from Huatajata, you can see and buy reed artesanías. On Kalahutathere are chullpas(burial towers), old buildings and the uninhabited town of Kewaya. On Paritithere is Inca terracing and the Museo Señor de los Patoswith textiles and Tiahuanco-era ceramics.

Straits of Tiquina

Vehicles are transported across on barges passengers on buses get off here and pay to ride in a launch to the other side, while the bus is taken across. The 10-minute crossing is really beautiful in sunny weather but expect delays when the water is rough. It can also get very cold in the wind and rain. Coming from Copacabana, while waiting for your bus to arrive off the barge in San Pablo, take a look at the monument to Eduardo Avaroa, hero of the Pacific War. This gory memorial reflects the anger still felt by many Bolivians over the loss of their sea coast to Chile in 1880.

Note - Passports are often checked at the Tiquina crossing, keep yours at hand.